Declaration of Principles

A reporter once asked Dr. Ernest Holmes to briefly state the beliefs of Religious Science, or the Science of Mind. His answer has become known as the Declaration of Principles:

  • We believe in God, the Living Spirit Almighty; one, indestructible, absolute and self-existent Cause.
  • This One manifests Itself in and through all creation, but is not absorbed by Its creation.
  • The manifest universe is the body of God; it is the logical and necessary outcome of the infinite self-knowingness of God.
  • We believe in the incarnation of the Spirit in us and that all of us are incarnations of the One Spirit.
  • We believe in the eternality, the immortality and the continuity of the individual soul, forever expanding.
  • We believe the kingdom of heaven is within us and that we experience this kingdom to the degree that we become conscious of it.
  • We believe the ultimate goal of life to be a complete emancipation from all discord of every nature, and that this goal is sure to be attained by all.
  • We believe in the unity of all life, and that the highest God and the innermost God is One God.
  • We believe that God is personal to all who feel this Indwelling Presence.
  • We believe in the direct revelation of Truth through our intuitive and spiritual nature, and that any person may become a revealer of Truth who lives in close contact with the Indwelling God.
  • We believe that the Universal Spirit, which is God, operates through Universal Mind, the Law of God.
  • We are surrounded by this Creative Mind which receives the direct impress of our thought and acts upon it.
  • We believe in the healing of the sick through the Power of this Mind. We believe in the control of conditions through the Power of this Mind.
  • We believe in the eternal goodness, the eternal loving kindness and the eternal givingness of life to all.
  • We believe in our own soul, our own spirit, and our own destiny.
  • We understand that the life of humankind is God.